Warner Bros. Conjures 'Merlin' Tentpole With Novice Screenwriting Wizard (Exclusive)It’s the screenwriting equivalent of pulling the sword out of the stone.Ed Whitworth, a script reader for Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Prods., has seemingly come out of nowhere to land the plum gig to write The Lost Years of Merlin, Warner Bros.’ big-budget adaptation of the first book of the fantasy series by T.A. Barron.Donald De Line (Green Lantern) is producing what is basically an origin story of the mythical wizard. The film will trace Merlin’s journey from being a boy washed on the shores of Wales with no memory and no home, to him becoming a young man learning to use his powers and ultimately defender of the natural world and eventual mentor to King Arthur. . . .Hollywood Reporter, May 16

Edited November 19, 2015 by Peter T Chattaway

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Disney Sets ‘Lord Of The Rings’ Co-Writer Philippa Boyens To Write Young Merlin MovieEXCLUSIVE: Disney has set Philippa Boyens to script an adaptation of The Merlin Saga, based on the series of books written by T.A. Barron. Life Of Pi‘s Gil Netter is producing. It’s a coup for the studio to land Boyens, who hasn’t really worked outside her long collaboration with Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, with whom she shared the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay in 2002 for the Best Picture winner The Return Of The King. She has teamed with Jackson and Walsh on The Lord Of The Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, as well as King Kong and The Lovely Bones.It turned out that when Sean Bailey’s Disney division called, it was a fortuitous moment, and the formative story of the iconic wizard was the right subject matter. Boyens came from New Zealand to meet with Bailey and supervising execs Tendo Nagenda and Foster Driver, and Merlin was a character and a world that appealed to her. Also, Jackson and Walsh are only just beginning to figure out what next after finally being able to poke their heads out of Middle Earth. So there is time. Boyens has a good relationship with Alan Horn, who at Warner Bros greenlit The Hobbit and was an exec producer on the trilogy. . . .Deadline.com, November 17

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Back in 2014, the script had been handed to Lara Croft: Tomb Raider writers Patrick Massett and John Zinman.